Explosive new details about the messy, behind-the-scenes breakdown of Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle's broken betrothal are revealed in text messages obtained by the Daily Mail.
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details → break → Mail
Kentucky attorney and GOP donor Eric Deters, whose messages with Guilfoyle were reported in the Wall Street Journal, says he had a front-row seat to the unraveling of the MAGA power couple after hosting them at his events over several years.
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he → report → years
Deters launched the annual Patriot's Day Freedom Fest to protest COVID-19 medical mandates, an event filled with MAGA royalty, beginning in 2020.
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Deters → launch → 2020
All seemed well in the weeks leading to the event.
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All → seem → event
On August 6, 2024, Guilfoyle sent Deters a text message, wishing him a happy birthday on behalf of her and Don Jr.
'Hey Eric happy birthday from me and Don Jr.
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Guilfoyle → send → me
Hope you have a great day!!!' she wrote.
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she → hope → day
But by the time the annual festival arrived just weeks later on September 14, 2024, the dynamic between Guilfoyle and Don Jr had turned entirely arctic, he says.
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he → arrive → Guilfoyle
According to Deters, during the festival, Don Jr refused to sit near or speak to Guilfoyle during car rides to and from the airport, as well as inside their VIP tent, leaving staff and guests taking note of the awkward dynamic.
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Jr → accord → dynamic
Eric Deters is pictured above alongside Kimberly Guilfoyle and Pam Bondi (Source: Eric Deters)
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Deters → picture → Guilfoyle
On August 6, 2024, Guilfoyle sent Deters a text message, wishing him a happy birthday (Source: Eric Deters)
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Guilfoyle → send → birthday
Kentucky attorney and GOP donor Deters says he had a front-row seat to the unraveling of the MAGA power couple after hosting them at his events over several years (Source: Eric Deters)
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he → say → years
Fearing Don Jr's disappointment if he caught her drinking, Deters says Guilfoyle recruited Deters' wife and her friend to secretly sneak alcohol to her during the festival, acting 'like a high schooler' hiding booze from her parents, Deters claimed to the Daily Mail.
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Deters → fear → Mail
Guilfoyle's affinity for Champagne and parties have widely been documented, and insiders urged her to be on good behavior after she was tapped to be President Donald Trump's Greek Ambassador, cautioning that an assignment amid Aegean islands and endless summers wasn't a green light for nonstop partying.
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assignment → document → partying
At the conclusion of the event, Guilfoyle insisted on packing up and taking all the remaining catered VIP food home with her, an odd request in Deters' eyes.
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Guilfoyle → insist → eyes
Deters said she also begged him to compliment her in front of Don Jr in the hopes of 'winning back his favor,' Deters detailed.
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Deters → say → favor
The day after the festival ended, the Daily Mail published an exclusive report revealing photos of Don Jr canoodling with his now wife Bettina, during an intimate brunch date.
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Jr → end → date
The exclusive photos were taken on August 17, 2024, and witnesses say they kissed several times.
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they → take → August
A photo obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail showed Don Jr having brunch with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in mid August 2024 – with then-fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle nowhere in sight
Months later in December 2024, Don Jr and Bettina were spotted leaving dinner in Palm Beach
Two days after the story was published, Deters reached out via text to express concern over her relationship troubles outlined in the Daily Mail report.
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Deters → obtain → report
Guilfoyle snapped, repeatedly denying there were any issues in 'Jr. World.
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Guilfoyle → snap → World
But text messages show the discord behind the scenes.
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messages → show → scenes
'You doing ok?' Deters texted on September 17, 2024.
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Deters → do → September
I have that app.
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I → have → app
I could tell Saturday that you were hurting.'
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you → tell → ?
Deters was referring to the day they had spent together at the Freedom Fest.
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they → refer → Fest
Guilfoyle snapped back, calling the story 'fake news,' and insisting, 'I wasn't hurting wtf.'
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I → snap → wtf
In another undated exchange, Guilfoyle complained about Don Jr's now wife, while appearing to dismiss the same reporting.
'I was having a f***ing great time Saturday and we had a f***ing amazing time when we got home Saturday night that's nonsense.
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that → complain → time
That's his ex-wife's friend,' Guilfoyle writes in the text to Deters.
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Guilfoyle → write → Deters
'It's all lies, but she's a cloud chasing horror that plays the story in the Daily Mail to get attention,' she says in the text, falsely claiming that Bettina sent her own bikini photographs to be included.
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Bettina → chase → photographs
Guilfoyle snapped back, calling the story 'fake news,' and insisting, 'I wasn't hurting wtf'
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I → snap → wtf
The reference to 'his ex-wife's friend' likely means Vanessa Trump, who shares five children with her ex-husband Don Jr (Source: Eric Deters)
Deters has shared a trove of revealing messages about Guilfoyle and Trump Jr's split (Source: Eric Deters)
The reference to 'his ex-wife's friend' likely means Vanessa Trump, who shares five children with her ex-husband Don Jr.
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who → mean → husband
Vanessa and Bettina were friends when Bettina started dating Don Jr, later marrying him in May 2026.
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Bettina → start → May
'What a c***,' Deters responded to Guilfoyle's messages about Bettina at the time. 'To increase her exposure.'
A source close to Bettina and Don Jr called Guilfoyle 'clearly delusional.
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source → respond → Guilfoyle
'
'There is zero truth to her claim that Bettina had anything to do with that story,' the source said.
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source → be → story
Guilfoyle and Don Jr first started dating midway through his father's initial presidential term.
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Guilfoyle → start → term
After getting engaged in 2020, the couple called it quits four years later, after Don Jr was spotted growing close to Bettina.
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Jr → get → Bettina
Months later, Trump nominated Guilfoyle as Ambassador to Greece in December 2024.
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Trump → nominate → December
Following her Senate confirmation last September, Guilfoyle's tenure as ambassador has been mired in controversy.
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tenure → follow → controversy
The Daily Mail reported earlier this week that the State Department is officially investigating complaints into her allegedly 'tyrannical' leadership and lavish corporate perks and Champagne-filled lifestyle.
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Department → report → leadership
The Trump administration is facing mounting pressure following the revelation of the probe, in addition to Wall Street Journal reporting on leaked texts between Guilfoyle and Deters detailing a $100,000 payoff request for an Amex bill.
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administration → face → bill
Trump's top deputies, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have been pressed about her conduct this week.
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deputies → press → conduct
…and 17 more, not listed.